Corn-harvester.



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J. HETTRIGH.

GORN HARVESTER.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN.11, 1907.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A TTOHNE YS No. 880,451. y PATENTED- PEB; 25, 1908.

J. HETTRIGH.

CORN HARVESTER. APPLICATION IILED JA. l1, 1907.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITNESS/5S,

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UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN HETTRIGH, OF GRAND ISLAND, NEBRASKA.

CORN-HARVESTER.

Patented Feb. 25, 1908.

No. 880,451. Specicationof Letters Patent.

Application filed January 11| 1907. Serial No. 351.808,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN HETTRICH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Grand Island, in the county of Hall and State of Nebraska, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Corn-Harvesters, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The purpose of the invention is to improve upon 4and simplify the construction of the gathering' wheel shown and described in my application for Letters Patent for a corn harvester,filed December 6, 1905, Serial No. 290,593, and which was allowed September The point of noveltyT consists in providing the teeth or spokes of the wheel with hinged or pivoted terminals which are automatically operated as the wheel assumes a bent position while taking up the corn from .the ground and straightening out the same as soon as the load is ready to be deposited on the table or platform from which it is to be conveyed to the husking mechanism, for example.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts as will be hereinafter fully set forth and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a vertical section through the improved wheel taken practically on the line 1 1 of Fig. 2, and is likewise a section through a part of the forward portion of a corn harvester; Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken substantially on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1 g Fig. 3 is an inner face view of a cam employed in controlling the wheel; and Fi 4 is a section taken substantially on the Eline /1-11 of Fig. 3. v

lA represents a portion of the frame of a corn harvester, B the cutting mechanism, B an axle for the machine, B2 a supporting wheel carried by the said axle, and B3 represents an elevator adapted to convey the cut corn to a shocking device, or to otherwise dispose of the product, and B4 represents the drive shaft of the gathering wheel which is the subject matter of the resent invention. This drive shaft B4 is driven usually as is illustrated in Fig. 1, wherein a sprocket wheel 10 is secured upon an end portion of the said shaft B4, being engaged by a chain belt 11 that passes over a sprocket wheel 12 mounted at the upper portion of the frame, and also over a larger sprocket wheel 13 secured to a supporting wheel B2 or to the axle B, if said axle is turned by the rotation of said supporting wheel.

The gathering wheel consists of spokes that are in series D, and since all of the series of spokes are of the same construction and are operated in the same manner, and as all of said series of spokes is attached to the vdrive shaft B4, I will confine myself to the description of one series D only.

At one side of the frame A, as is shown in Fig. 2, a segmental cam C is secured and the drive shaft B4 passes through a suitable openingb at the apex of the cam, as is shownin Figs. 2 and 3, and the said drive shaft B4 is journaled in suitable bearings b carried by the side members of the frame A, as is shown in Fig. 2. At the inner face of the cam C a segmental rib or track 13 is formed and one end 14a, which is the entering end of the track 14, is more or less inclined, as is indicated in Fig. 3. The cam C is likewise provided upon its inner face at its segmental marginal portion with a flange 15, and this iiange terminates somewhat short of the side edges of the cam and the terminal portions of the flange are inclined or curved, as is indicated at 16 in said Fig. 3.

Disks 17, usually three in number, as shown, are secured upon the drive shaft B4, and supporting arms18 are secured to the said disks, which arms may be of any desired length. A shaft 19 is passed through all of the supporting arms 18 and to the rear of the shaft 19 a second shaft 2O is similarly located, being in parallelism with the shaft 19, as is shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The outer end portions of the supporting arms 18 practically serve as spokes, and between the said supporting arms 18, or that portion of the arms that acts as spokes, a series of auxiliary spokes 2 1 is located, and the shafts 19 and 20 pass through these auxiliary spokes, as well as through the connecting arms 18, as is clearly shown in Fig. 2, and the auxiliary spokes and the connecting arms are held a suitable distance apart by spacing sleeves 22 pins or bolts 24, or their equivalents, and each finger 23 extends below its pivoted point to a lcertain eXtent. A link 25 is pivotally attached to the lower or.- projecting end portion of each tooth 23, and these links 25 are all connected by a shaft 26, and the said connecting shaft V26 is provided with links 27, usually three in number, that eX- tend from said shaft 26 and are connected by pins 23 with crank arms 29 that are secured upon a shifting shaft 28, parallel with the shafts 26, 20 and 19, as is best shown in Fig. 2. This shifting shaft 28a' is mounted to turn in the inner end portions of the supporting arms, as is shown in Fig. 2, and springs 30 are secured to lthe pins 28 conn nected with the crank arms 29, which springs arev also attached to the inner connecting shaft 19 for `the seriesof spokes. The tendency of the said springs is to draw the fingers 23 downward so as to bring them atV a right angle to the spokes, carrying them as is shown at the lower portion of the wheel inFig. 1 of the drawings. When the fingers 23 are in the position just described, they act to lift up the corn to carry it to the v elevator B3 or to any desired point of the machine, lbut when the spokes arrive at the upper position shown in Fig. 2, and at the' upper portion of Fig. 1, the fingers are carried automatically to a lperpendicular position so as to facilitate the discharge of the material carried up upon said elevator B3. This is accomplished in the following manner: A crank arm 31 is secured to the upper end of the shifting shaft 28a which faces the camC,

and this crank arm 31 is provided with a roller 32 adapted as the wheel revolves'to engage with the inner face ofthe fiange `15 of the cam, as is shown in Fig. 2, and while the roller 32 is in engagement with the cam 15,

ythe shaft 23a will have been locked in a ksupporting position.

A roller 33 is mounted at the end of the shaft 28EL that faces thecam C, and this roller, as the roller 32 of the crank 31 engages with the cam, engages with the track 14, andin so doing slides the shaft 28a inward, since the shifting shaft 28a is not only mounted for rovtary movement, but for end movement, and when the shaft 28a -is thus forced inward. A spring 34 is coiled around the shaft 28a, `having bearing usually against one of the supporting arms 18 and a collar 35 of said shaft. This end lmovement of the shaft 28a-is for the purV ose of permitting the locking connection wit and an unlocking action from the suporting arm 13 that is adjacent to the cam C. his supporting arm 18, just referred to, is

radjacent to the lugs.

provided with two lugs 36 upon its inner face, and these lugs are so spaced as to receive between them the crank arm 29 that is When the friction rollers leave the cam C the spring 34 acts to force the shaft 28a to its normal position or in direction of the said cam so that at the final movement of the shaft 23, or just as its controlling rollers leave the cam, the aforesaid `crank arm 29 will enter the space between the lugs 36 and thus lock the fingers 23 in their gathering positions, or at right angles tol the spokes of the descending vand partially ascending series,and Ait is evident that when the roller 33 engages with :the track 14, the shaft 28a will -be forced ciently far inward to free the aforesaid cran-k arms from the said lugs 36 and lthus `admit of a rotation of saidshaft.

By reference to Fig. 3, it will be Aobserved that a s ace intervenes between the inner edge of t e cam C and the receiving end yof the flange 15, while the receiving end 141'of the track 14 is carried to. said edge, therefore the roller 33 'first engages the cam and forces the crank arm on the shaft 28"t from/locking engagement with the lugs 36, vpermitting the roller 32, which then quickly engages the cam, to perform itsfunctions.

Having thus described my invention, 'l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent,-

1. In a corn `harvester or like machine, -a gathering wheel consisting of a central shaft, spokes in series carried by the shaft, ya Vpivoted finger at the outer end of each spoke, the vfingers being also in series, a shifting shaft for each series of fingers, pivoted links extending from4 the fingers of each series of fingers, connections between the links and the shifting shafts, and means for Iconsecutively carrying the shifting shafts first to an operative position and then restoring them to normal position during the rotation of the wheel, whereby the series of fingers is Iconsecutively moved at right angles to the spokes and are then brought into longitudinal alinement therewith.

2. In a corn harvester, the combination with a frame, agathering wheel mounted to revolve `in the frame, said `Wheel comprising a 'central shaft, spokes, in series supported from the shaft, and fingers in-corresponding series pivoted to the outer terminal portions of the spokes, of a shifting shaft 'for yeach series of fingers, a cam mounted at 4the end portion of the centralshaft being independent of the said shaft, and a crank arm from l each shifting shaft in engagement with thesaid cam.

3. In a corn harvester or vlike machine, the combination with a frame and a gathering wheel, said gathering wheel comprising -a shaft mounted to revolve in the frame., spokes in series supported' from the said shaft, lingers pivoted to the outer terminals of the spokes, a shifting shaftr for each series of ngers, spring connections between the shifting shafts, and link connections between the shifting shafts and the said fingers, and crank arms one at the outer end portion of each shifting shaft, of a cam secured on the frame, having a flange for engagement with the crank arms at the outer ends of the shifting shafts, and means for locking the said shifting shafts and releasing them through the medium of the said cam.

4. ln a corn harvester or like machine, the combination with a frame and a gathering wheel mounted to revolve in the said frame, the gathering wheel comprising a central shaft, spokes in series connected with the said shaft, a finger 'ivoted to the outer end portion of each spo ie and a connecting bar for each series of fingers, of a shifting shaft for each series of fingers mounted to rotate, and likewise mounted for end movement, crank and link connections between the shifting lshafts and the connecting shafts7 'tension devices controlling the movement of the shifting shafts in one direction, a crank arm at the end of each shifting shaft, and a roller also located at the same end of each shifting shaft, and a cam secured to the said frame having a flange for engagement by the outer crank arms of the shifting shafts, and a track for engagement by the wheels at the end portions of said shifting shafts.

ln testimony whereof I have signed my name to4 this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN HETTRICH. Witnesses:

GHAs. G. RYAN', JAMES H. WAALLEY.: 

